Judgment

Patanjali Sastri J.- This is an appeal from a judgment of the H. C. of Judicature at Patna dismissing a revn. petn. against the conviction of the applt. for an offence under S. 186, Penal Code.

2. The applt. was at all material times the General Manager of the Jagdishpur Zamindary Co. (hereinafter referred to as the company) who were the lessees of a sugar factory referred to in these proceedings as the Bhita Sugar Factory. He was prosecuted for obstructing the then Dist. Mag. & the Special Officer-in-charge of Rationing, Patna, in the discharge of their official functions when they went to the factory on 6-12-1947 to remove 5,000 maunds of sugar which had been seized out of the stock held by the Company pursuant to an order of the Govt. of Bihar dated 5-12-1947. The case for the prosecution was as follows : The Company had deliberately failed to comply with the orders for supply of sugar issued from time to time under the provisions of the Sugar & Sugar Products Control Order,1947, by officers of the Govt. duly authorised in that behalf, & in consequence, the Govt. made the following order on 5-12-1947 : "In exercise of the powers conferred on the Central Govt. by cl. (j) of sub-s. (2) of S. 3, Essential Supplies (Temporary Powers) Act, 1946, which have been delegated to the Provincial Govt. in relation to foodstuffs in the notin. of the Govt. of India, Dept. of Food, No. PY-603 (2)-1 dated 21-10-1946, the Governor of Bihar is pleased : (1) to authorise the Dist. Mag Patna &/or the Special Officer-in-charge of Rationing. Patna, to search the stock of sugar held by Messrs. Jagdishpur Zamindary Co. Bhita, in the Dist. of Patna, which is about to commit a contravention of the order of the Chief Controller of Prices & supplies, Bihar, made under cl. 7 (1) (ii), Sugar- & Sugar Products Control Order, 1947, & issued in order No. 1613-P.C.R. dated 27-9-1947 in so far as the said order relates to the said Company, & (2) to direct that 5,000 maunds of sugar held in stock by the said Company shall be seized. By order of the Governor of Bihar Sd. T. P. SINGH, Secretary to Govt."

3. On 6-12-1947 when the officers named went to the factory to carry out the aforesaid order, they were told by the applt. that he would do everything possible to obstruct the removal of the sugar, & accordingly it was found that the sugar godowns had been locked & the road leading to them blocked by heaps of coal, firewood & tins placed across, so as to make vehicular traffic impossible. A railway siding leading to the godowns had also been rendered unserviceable by the removal of some of the rails & fishplates. As a result of such obstruction, the officers had to seek the aid of armed police to break open the locks, repair the railway line & clear the road block before the sugar could be removed from the factory.

4. The applts . main defence was that on a proper construction of S. 3, Essential Supplies (Temporary Powers) Act, 1946, (hereinafter referred to as the Act) it was not competent for the Govt. to pass the order of 5-19-1947, which was consequently illegal & void, & that obstruction to the execution of that order could not constitute an offence under S. 186, Penal Code. The contention was rejected & the applt. was convicted & sentenced to simple imprisonment for & term of three weeks.

5. On appeal, the Ses. J. Patna, confirmed the conviction & sentence, agreeing with the findings of the trial Ct. & a revn. petn. preferred by the applt. was rejected by the H. C. which, however, granted a certificate under Art.134 (1) (c) of the Constitution that the case was a fit one for appeal to this Ct. as it involved a point of "sufficient public importance" as to the interpretation of S. 3 of the Act. Section 3, so far as it is material here, runs as follows : "3. (1) The Central Govt. so far as it appears to it to be necessary or expedient for maintaining or increasing supplies of any essential commodity, or for securing their equitable distribution & a